Purdy: A short spell in the third period spells trouble for Sharks in the series

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San Jose Sharks' Joe Pavelski (8) celebrates after he scored on a deflection against Dallas Stars' Marty Turco (35) in the first period of Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals of the NHL Playoffs at HP Pavilion in San Jose Calif. on Tuesday, April 27, 2008. Sharks' Ryane Clowe (29) looks on with Dallas Stars' Mark Fistric (28). (Nhat V. Meyer/Mercury News )

San Jose Sharks' against in the first period of Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals of the NHL Playoffs at HP Pavilion in San Jose Calif. on Tuesday, April 27, 2008. (Nhat V. Meyer/Mercury News )

San Jose Sharks' Evgeni Nabokov (20) can't stop a shot by Dallas Stars' Brad Richards in the third period of Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals of the NHL Playoffs at HP Pavilion in San Jose Calif. on Tuesday, April 27, 2008. (Nhat V. Meyer/Mercury News )

San Jose Sharks' Brian Campbell (51) and Milan Michalek (9) celebrate 2-1 goal lead against Dallas Stars in the second period of Game 2 of the semifinals of the NHL Playoffs 2008 at HP Pavilion in San Jose Calif. on Sunday, April 27, 2008. (Josie Lepe/Mercury News

San Jose Sharks Milan Michalek (9) scores the Sharks second goal against Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco (35) in the second period for Game 2 of the NHL Western Conference semi-final playoff game at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. on Sunday, April 27, 2008. (Nhat V. Meyer/Mercury News)

The Sharks picked a really bad time to give up playing good hockey. The first four minutes of the third period Sunday night were as horrible as any in franchise history, given the situation and the ramifications.

At the start of the third period, the Sharks led 2-1.

At the start of the fifth minute of the third period, they were behind 3-2.

And at the end of the game, they were behind 5-2. It was the Sharks’ first three-goal loss at home since mid-January.

“It’s just one of those things that you wish had never happened,” said Sharks center Joe Pavelski, who began the crucial sequence with an unlucky play that set in motion some ugly moments that had nothing to do with luck. The Sharks made little mistakes, and the Stars pounced on the puck and scored two swift goals to take command of the game and the series.

Actually, at last geographic report, there are no mountains in Dallas, where the next two games will be played. However, Stars goalie Marty Turco will be there. And the Sharks would probably rather face a big mountain.

Mount Marty is the challenge the Sharks cannot solve. They have outshot Dallas in the first two games 58-44, and have zero victories to show for it.

So you could look at things that horrible way, too. For all of the wretchedness of those four minutes at the start of the third period Sunday, the Sharks could have made those minutes meaningless if they had been able to score on three or four of the seemingly golden opportunities they had to beat Turco earlier in the game.

“We had some chances and we’ve got to bury them,” said Milan Michalek, who scored one of the Sharks’ goals. “But they scored every chance they had.”

Or so it seemed. Now, to have any realistic shot of wining the series, our beloved Los Tiburones probably have to win in Texas on Tuesday and Wednesday. The task isn’t impossible. The Sharks pulled such a feat four years ago in the Western Conference finals: After losing the first two games of the series in San Jose, they went to Calgary and won twice.

However, the Sharks also went on to lose that series in six games. Because that’s where the odds start working against you. Even if you level the series, you usually lose it. In the previous 286 NHL playoff matchups in which one team trailed two games to none, that team has come back to win the series just 13 percent of the time. In this year’s first round, all five teams that lost the first two games of a series were eventually eliminated.

“It puts our backs against the walls,” said Sharks rookie Devin Setoguchi, who understands the plurality of the problem. “It’s a little demoralizing. We just didn’t come out and play in the third period. We didn’t come out and play the way we know we can. We had mental breakdowns and never seemed to regain our momentum.”

And to think it all started so innocently enough. The Sharks had spent the intermission before the third period covering all the points about protecting a lead and trying to build on it. But about 30 seconds after the third period began, Pavelski took a pass just short of the Sharks’ blue line, turned and tried to move ahead with the puck. Instead, Pavelski lost an edge and his feet flew from under him. Dallas forechecker Brad Richards gathered the puck with no one in front of him, took one stride and fired it past Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov. Tie score.

You probably could blame the unfortunate development on the always-shaky HP Pavilion ice, which surely played a part in Pavelski losing his edge. But there was more.

Publicly, the Sharks will not criticize the ice conditions at HP Pavilion. But after an indoor lacrosse and an Arena Football League game there Saturday, no sheet of ice could be anything close to perfect less than 24 hours later. So give the ice an assist for Richards’ goal.

Still, less than a minute later, the Sharks had a perfect opening to regain the lead. Dallas’ Mike Modano went into the penalty box after tripping Craig Rivet. The Sharks set up their power play, which already had accounted for a goal, but Dallas cleared the puck and Stars pest Steve Ott chased it down over the red line. Trying to regain the puck, Sharks defenseman Christian Ehrhoff committed a holding penalty on Ott.

You probably could blame Ehrhoff, who is not having a very good series, for what happened next. But there was more.

After neither team did much during four-on-four time, Modano came back onto the ice and was found wide open by teammate Sergei Zubov, in his first game back from a sports hernia. He backhanded Modano a perfect setup for the go-ahead goal.

But there was more. And there is more.

“If we play desperate hockey down in Dallas, we’ll be fine,” Setoguchi said.

A little desperation at home in the first two games also would have been nice. But hey, here is the Sharks’ open door to redemption. In the past, they have disappointed their followers by taking series leads and blowing them. If they can emerge from this and get to a Game 6 or Game 7 with a chance to win, the Sharks can show us all they are a different group.

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